Well, my bf is really into me, and I really like him, but more as a friend than a lover. He also has a history of mental illness, and he was on the verge of suicide not that long ago. I don't want to dump him and send him over the edge, he had a crush on me a long while before we became more than friends. I'm just not sure what to do here...
I had a friend in the same position as you, I will give you the same advice I gave her. You have to let him go, I know that you fear he may commit suicide, but you cannot let that rule your life. He will make his own choices and if he does, it will not be your fault, I don't think he will though. My friend took my advice and ended it with her boy friend and do you know what? He didn't commit suicide like he thought he would, he apologized to her and said he understood. You cannot be in a relationship where you don't feel happy, it just causes heartbreak and loneliness. Just sit your boyfriend down and explain to him that you want to break up and why you want to break up. I know this will not be easy, but you have to do what's best for you.(*hug*)
Your boy friend is not in a good position to be having a relationship. I was in a relationship with someone who told me they thought they would kill themselves if I ever left them. I let myself get controlled and used because I was afraid of hurting them, and in the end after all I did for them, they dumped me and it crushed me, at least for a while. You are not responsible for the actions of this person. You should encourage him to get some therapy, and then tell him you'd like to just be friends if that's what he really wants. You have no obligation to be with someone if you don't want to be. In fact that's only going to lead to an unhealthy relationship that's going to hurt both of you more in the end.
Thing is I'm often suicidal too, it comes and goes. Two mentally ill people are not going to have a good outcome I think, which I suppose I should've thought of before. I know I'm not responsible for his actions if he does it, but I've lost two friends to suicide this year and I really don't want to see more death. I've gotten myself into a real sticky situation I guess, but yeah I think I should have a serious discussion with him, and at least slow the romantic part of our relationship down, I still want to keep him as a friend we've known eachoother a long time and have a knack for cheering eachoother up. But yeah, I really need to have a serious discussion about it. I'm not afraid that he'd kill himself just because I'd break it off, he already has problems with suicidal ideation. Feels like I'd just be giving him another stressor and who knows when he would finally be pushed over the edge. Thanks all for the advice, I'll have to reflect on it all for a bit I think.
